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Central Park Set to Become Car-Free This Summer

Central Park Set to Become Car-Free This Summer

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced that Central Park
will become permanently car-free starting on June 1.

NYC’s most famous park is following in the footsteps of Brooklyn’s
Prospect Park, which became car-free in January of this year.

“Our parks are for people, not cars,” De Blasio said in a statement.
“For more than a century, cars have turned parts of the world’s
most iconic park into a highway. Today we take it back. We are prioritizing
the safety and the health of the millions of parents, children and visitors
who flock to Central Park.”

Terrace Drive, Center Drive, and West Drive all allow vehicles on weekday
mornings, but this will no longer be the case starting in June. However,
none of the major crosstown thoroughfares at 66th, 72nd, 86th, and 96th streets will be affected.

This traffic change marks a huge win for safe streets activists who have
lobbied for a vehicle ban in Central Park for more than a decade. Back
in 2005, Transportation Alternatives collected 100,000 signatures in support
of a total ban on vehicles in the park, which sees an estimated 35+ million
visitors each year.

“Over the years, we’ve stood in the cold, in the heat, in the
rain, and in the snow to win the support of hundreds of thousands of New
Yorkers,” TransAlt executive director Paul Steely White said in
a statement. “Progress comes in fits and starts—a weekend
trial here, a seasonal trial there—and often without any assurance
that meaningful reform is coming. So we’re thrilled to finally witness
a positive conclusion to the four decade-long campaign to rid Central
Park of vehicular traffic, and we’re grateful to Mayor de Blasio
and Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg for returning Central
Park to what it was always meant to be: a place for people, not for cars.”